UNMISS injects $2.5 million into community empowerment projects

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has injected $2.5 million into projects aimed at empowering women and youth in the country.

The UNMISS Head Mission, Nicholas Haysom, said the money has been invested in 50 projects across the country.

 “This year, the mission is investing $2.5 million in 50 quick impact projects with a focus on empowering women and youth in South Sudan,” Haysom told reporters during a press conference in Juba on Friday.

Haysom said the projects include the provision of much-needed veterinary care in the country.

“The UNMISS funds veterinary clinics as part of efforts to promote peaceful coexistence among communities that subsist on animals herding,” Haysom said.

The UN envoy said the mission’s supports to communities range from building hospitals and providing healthcare for IDPs to constructing and repairing dykes, police stations, prisons, and roads.

The Quick Impact Projects are small-scale, and low-cost projects that respond to the needs expressed by local communities which include the provision of clean water, education and healthcare, safe houses for vulnerable women and strengthening the justice system to hold perpetrators of sexual violence to account.

The UN mission has so far invested $7.5 million in about 140 projects since 2011 to help protect civilians and build durable peace.